Monday 26 June 2006 19.51 EDT
First published on Monday 26 June 2006 19.51 EDT

Ukraine were already in uncharted territory but they will awake today in a dream world. The debutants in this tournament last night squeezed into a quarter-final against Italy after a contest which saved its drama, or what there was of it, for the first penalty shoot-out of this tournament. Switzerland departed Germany as the first side ever not to have conceded a goal in the finals, though that merely added to their profound and bitter sense of disbelief.

Their deficiencies were clear and elsewhere. Even the spot-kicks at the end lacked quality, though the Ukrainians, giddy in delight, will hardly care. Their goalkeeper Oleksandr Shovkovskiy saved a feeble shot from Marco Streller, watched Tranquillo Barnetta drive against the crossbar, then flopped on to Ricardo Cabanas's scuffed attempt. It hardly mattered that Andriy Shevchenko had seen his side's first penalty saved. If the former Milan striker suffered any fluttering apprehension that this might have been a repeat of the personal nightmare he endured in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, it quickly evaporated amid Swiss inadequacy.

The tedium of much of this occasion should not detract from Ukraine's achievement. After watching his side humiliated in their first-ever match in the finals, few would have believed it possible that Oleg Blokhin could recover the defensive sureness that had marked their qualifying campaign. Yet that 4-0 aberration against Spain seems an age away now. Blokhin hid in the dressing room as the penalties were played out and even had to be informed post-match that Shevchenko had missed. He returned to the pitch in the aftermath with tears of pride stinging his eyes.

"I don't think anybody really had confidence in us," said Blokhin, who had been heavily criticised back home even after the narrow 1-0 victory over Tunisia in the final group match, a result which thrust them on to this stage.

"Most people had written us off," he pointed out. "Some thought we'd played like beginners, particularly against Tunisia, but we showed out there that we can play good, high-quality football. But a penalty shoot-out is like Russian roulette.

"I didn't see them myself. After 120 minutes I couldn't cope with it. It's so hard for a coach, so I couldn't watch. We fought so hard and we've come so far in this tournament, this is almost like a dream. We played result-orientated football out there and it worked."

Italy await in Hamburg on Friday night. Shevchenko said: "It's very special for me after playing and living for so many years in Milan. I have many friends in Italy and Italian football after playing all those years. They will certainly be favourites. They have really great players but, when you play with your heart, you can sometimes compensate for other qualities."

That is precisely what they did here and it was to be admired, even if it was occasionally exasperating to watch. Ukraine struck the crossbar midway through the first half, Shevchenko wrestling his way past Johan Djourou to nod Maksim Kalinichenko's down and watch the loose ball cannon up and on to the woodwork. They also offered more of a threat after the interval, the slippery Andriy Voronin guiding a header wide and occasionally exposing a Swiss rearguard that had lost the crocked Philippe Senderos after the group stage and was stripped of Djourou, his young Arsenal team-mate and replacement, with a groin strain 11 minutes before half-time.

Yet the reshuffled back line still proved adequate to negate Shevchenko's occasional burst, one shot fizzing wide, with Pascal Zuberbuehler motionless, offering a glimpse of what he can offer. The closest Ukraine came to prising their opponents apart was when Andriy Gusin flicked Kalinichenko's corner marginally wide. Yet the Swiss could never capitalise on their fourth consecutive clean sheet, spanning 6½ hours.

Alexander Frei thumped a 25-yard free-kick against the woodwork in the first half, but their other half-chances were reserved for extra-time when Shovkovskiy saved from Johann Vogel and Andriy Gusin closed down Marco Streller. Swiss composure drained completely in the shoot-out. "It was nerves, a bad case of nerves," offered their coach Kobi Kuhn. "We practised earlier in the day and everybody shot into the corner of the net and our goalkeepers didn't stand a chance. But the nerves got to my players out there.

"There's an emptiness now. We wanted to play positive football here. We wanted to offer attractive football with our young players, and I think we managed to do that until tonight. I'm not afraid of what will come in two years' time because we will be ready for it."

His side should be stronger for this experience when they co-host Euro 2008 with Austria, though to miss out on a first quarter-final in 52 years, as Oleg Gusev slid home the Ukrainians' fourth penalty, was agonising.